My just purchased 97 850 pulls to the right. I had the alignment done and the front wheels switched and it still pulls to the right. Is this normal for 850s? If not, what do I need to look at next to make it drive straight?
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Leon Ramseur in NC, 1997 855, 1995 945, 1990 760, 1990 740 & 1990 745. 90 740 & 745 FOR SALE.

Take it to a better alignment shop, if that's possible. It could be brakes, and it could be the rear tires as well. A good 4-wheel alignment should fix the problem. If the specs line up for the 4-wheel alignment, it is more likely related to a tire or brake problem. if they don't line up ("we got it as good as we could") either find a different shop, or have the suspension parts checked out.
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Chris Herbst, near Chicago.

Another symptom my car has is when I am driving in a public garage the wheels shreak like I am skidding, Could this be the frame also?

My tires don't where out that unevenly, I would think that they would.

Thanks, Mark

"Another symptom my car has is when I am driving in a public garage the wheels shreak like I am skidding, Could this be the frame also?

My tires don't where out that unevenly, I would think that they would. "

tires screeching like that is not uncommon in a garage... usually it is because they put a coating on the floor... one garage I've been to a lot has a paint like material on the floor and my tires screech horribly even at 5mph... this happened in multiple vehicles with a very wide range of tires too!

This is not normal. Note that both the front and rear wheel alignment needs to be checked.

Once I found a slightly dragging brake pad causing a pull to the right, so that should be checked as well. Jack up the car as if to change the right front tire and confirm that with the car in neutral the wheel spins freely to check for brake drag.

Lastly, there are a lot of shops that "do alignments", but not a lot that do the job thoroughly and correctly.

John

Mine does too. in you case it could be the tires, just switch the two front ones and se if it pulls to the left. I am taking mine to a front end spetialist when I have the time.

Mark

Not to be the bearer of bad news...but collision damage would come to my mind. I've seen it too much in shopping for used cars. Even a beautiful looking car can have hidden frame damage due to a previous collision.

You've seen "hidden" frame damage shopping for used cars? Or do you mean, you've seen "unfinished work"?

You're not being the bearer of bad news, you're being the bearer of an on-the-sly repair job that was intentionally, improperly finished.

Any and every hit in a unit frame car, save for things like bicycle scratches, parking lot dings, and baseball hits, shifts part of the frame, because the frame is the whole vehicle; the whole car is a structural frame member (except for the sheet metal.

Any person with a frame alignment machine, or a good set of frame measurement tools, can correct frame misalignment. The myth of "bent frames" on unit frame cars, is only a result of improper or incomplete repair. The only thing that accident damage has to do with it, is that it happened in the first place, and wasn't repaired. If the car was a '75 Electra, the frame could actually be "bent". If a unit frame car is "bent", then someone who repaired it, is not very bright.


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Chris Herbst, near Chicago.

my 850 pulls to the right, in part due to a slight bend in the frame from a skid over some ice and into a curb.. enough that it can't get as good an alignment as is ordinarily possible, as well as I need to get some suspension work done to the pass. side front more so than any other corner of the car

My car pulls to the right a little too. I did run the front left tire into a curb pretty hard once. Ever since that my brakes have started to shrudder and shake. Even after putting new rotors in, they seem to warp only after a few weeks. Could frame damage cause rotors to warp?

Generally, problems like that are easily corrected.
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Chris Herbst, near Chicago.

Thanks, Chris. Will it hurt it to drive it on a long trip if my hands can stand it.
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Leon Ramseur in NC, 1997 855, 1995 945, 1990 760, 1990 740 & 1990 745. 90 740 & 745 FOR SALE.

It shouldn't hurt anything except the tires (if it is that bad). Of course, if the tires are causing the problem... it won't hurt them worse.
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Chris Herbst, near Chicago.